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Missio Christi – Prayer – Luke 11:1a – Part 4

If God be near a church, it must pray. And if He be not there, one of the first tokens of His absence will be a slothfulness in prayer. ~ Charles Spurgeon [1]

When God is near to a people, the people want to talk to God. When there isn’t the tangible, manifest presence of God, there will be no desire abounding in our midst to pray.

This quote, applied to the individual Christian, says: if God is present in your life in a profound way, not merely salvifically but practically and intimately, the result will be prayer. Prayer becomes a gauge. If you find yourself burdened to pray, God is near you! You are experiencing the pursuit of Christ. If you are not clinging to Christ in a practical and tangible way, the first sign of that apathy will be slothfulness in prayer – the lack of desire to talk to Him.

The Christian who lives life on mission is experiencing the promise of Matthew 28:20: Lo, I am with you always, and they are moved to prayer.

The nominal “Sunday Christian” who doesn’t live after the glory and purpose of God doesn’t know what we are talking about. They lack the intimate, profound experience of the person of Christ in us and with us. He or she is lacking the missional presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit because they have not created a need for the promise of Matthew 28 to be fulfilled. They are missing mission and there is no need for the unique presence and aroma of Christ in their life.

How are you on the front lines taking Christ to people? Or, to say it another way, how do you seek to expose and explain Him?

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